Science, Literature, and Politics

Yesterday I went into Kensington (the borough where the CAPA centre is) a few hours before my class started to go to the Museum of Natural History. I think that museums of natural history are a bit like zoos (in fact, Londoners hilariously call it the "Dead Zoo") in that if you've been to one, you've basically been to them all. However, I was keen to go because they had a special big Charles Darwin exhibit in honor of the 150th anniversary of On the Origin of Species and Darwin's 200th birthday. Plus, I am a biology nerd, so science museums always hold my attention, even if I have seen dinosaur skeletons before.

I found the Darwin exhibit enthralling, but not for its science. It did quite a nice job (I think) in clearly presenting just what is meant by "evolution through natural selection" and displayed the very same specimens Darwin collected and observed along with explanations of evolution. There was also a good discussion of what is meant by "theory" in science. But all of that was old news to me, except for getting to see bits of Darwin's actual collections. More fascinating was the writing they had on display--several of Darwin's original notebooks were there, as well as a number of personal and professional letters, both written by him and written by those close to him. It was very exciting to actually see the beginnings of the theory of evolution, written in Darwin's own hand displayed next to fossils he had found and pondered. And it was really cool to learn more about him as a person. He was a scientist first and foremost, taking detailed objective observations of even his own children's development. Yet he also handed over a page of his manuscript for his daughter to doodle on. It was very well-done, and I don't think anyone who actually viewed the exhibit thoughtfully would be able to argue against the elegant veracity of Darwin's work (but of course I'm biased).

My first class was yesterday afternoon, and it was Shakespeare. Unsurprisingly, I loved it immediately. The professor is an ancient little British man who talks quicker than anyone I have ever encountered. He is enthusiastic and hilarious, and bent on making sure we all consider multiple perspectives/interpretations for the plays we're reading. He also chose some less popular plays, which is exciting because we're actually doing ones I don't already know. It promises to be a good class.

I don't have much praise for the other class I had yesterday, though. It was my "Perspectives on Experiential Learning Abroad" (PELA) course, a mandatory part of my internship. All of the students who are doing internships must take it. I get the feeling it's just a lot of busy work so that we have some academic component of the internship. Yesterday was two hours of the benefits of learning via experience and the benefit of working in another culture--but clearly we already know those things; that is why we are here, after all. But I did get to hear what other students were doing for internships, and there were some interesting placements. One kid is on the film crew for a British reality TV show; another is working for an insurance agency that provides high-profile clients with "kidnapping and ransom insurance".

CAPA provided us with a list of a few of the places around London that were hosting parties for the inauguration, but I opted to watch it alone in my room. Not out of a desire to be anti-social, but I wanted to be sure I could see and hear the entire thing, uninterrupted. I'm sure that I don't have anything to say about it that everyone else isn't saying. President Obama did not disappoint; I cried a bit (shocking, I know); watching former President Bush leave made me giddy with happiness and relief (it felt like waking up from an awful nightmare). It left me with my first real twinge of homesickness, because it reminded me of watching the election results with Christina, and I am sure that had I been home we would have watched this together too (well, maybe not, I suppose; it was still during class hours at home). It's exhilarating to actually be proud of the president of my country.

For me, the inauguration was followed by a distinctly un-American dinner--fish pie and peas. It was the first dinner we've had that I've felt was odd. Considering I'm not that crazy about fish, it was actually OK. Pie is a bit of a misnomer; it was a casserole dish of salmon baked with a layer of mashed potatoes on top. But I had dessert in my room; yesterday I found a little jar of creamy Skippy peanut butter at a supermarket.